The Grand Banquet: NaLu Style
by zElliexmagic
Summary: My version of episode 199 "The Grand Banquet". Even though the whole king thing was funny, I'd rather have a NaLu moment. NaLu and a little bit a StiYu
**Hey guys! Alright, so in episode 199, "The Grand Banquet", everybody was asking each other where Natsu was. When I first saw episode, I had a hunch that he was somewhere by himself moping about the death of Future Lucy and Lucy would walk away from the party to get fresh air, see him, and have a NaLu moment. Even though the whole king thing was funny, I would rather have the moment happen. So, here's my version of "The Grand Banquet". I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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The Grand Banquet: NaLu Style

Lucy smiled happily as she munched on a slice of apple pie. She hummed as she looked around the room. Everybody seemed to be having the time of their lives right now. Many people were in here, but it wasn't as loud as you'd think it would be.

"Hello Lucy."

Lucy jumped and shoved the rest of the apple pie into her mouth. She turned around and spoke with her mouth full, "Prinshesh Hishui!"

Hisui smiled as she took a couple steps closer to Lucy, "I'm glad you're enjoying the food."

Lucy giggled and scratched the back of her head, "Probably a little too much to be honest!"

Hisui giggled back, "So you are apart of the illustrious Heartfilia family."

Lucy nodded, "My dad made quite a name for himself."

"Not only that, but he was actually a personal friend of mine."

Lucy's eyes widened and she gapped. She never thought that her father would be a friend to the princess, not matter how rich he was. "Oh! I had no idea!"

"Indeed…which makes me feel all the worse for causing you so much trouble."

Lucy smiled, "It's okay. That's the life of a guild wizard after all! If we don't find trouble, it always finds us!"

Hisui smiled widely as Lucy finished her sentence. She turned to the side and added, "By the way, I'm surprised that pink haired boy from your guild isn't joining us tonight."

Lucy raised her eyebrow and looked around the room, looking for pink hair. "Now that you mention it, I kinda am too."

It was surprising. There were all different kinds of food _everywhere_. This would be paradise for Natsu. He would never turn down food. It seemed very strange that Natsu wouldn't show up to a big party. Maybe it was the fancy clothes; Natsu always complained on how itchy and tight it was. Well even if that was the case, he would've just come in his normal clothes. Again, he would never turn down a free meal.

After talking to Hisui, Lucy was wandering around looking for Natsu and asking others where he was. Everyone seemed to wonder the same thing: where was Natsu? He was worrying everybody, especially her.

"Lucy!"

Lucy turned, hoping it was Natsu, but instead, two white haired females in beautiful dresses were waving at her. She smiled as she walked toward them. "Hi Yukino! Hi Mira! Have you seen Natsu?"

"We were going to ask you the same thing," Mira replied. She glanced around the room for pink hair in a tuxedo, but none was found.

"He's usually impossible to miss," Yukino glanced around as well and froze in her spot.

Lucy and Mira raised an eyebrow and opened their mouths to ask what was wrong, but she spoke first:

"Sorry…I don't think I can do this right now!"

Lucy saw what she meant. Members of Sabertooth stood in front of them along with Gajeel. They were staring at Yukino as she turned around to run, but she only got a few steps.

"Wait!" Sting stepped forward as she stopped. "Please stick around for a little while at least! The Master and malady are gone for good; they won't be here."

Lucy blinked, confused, "Huh?"

"Look," Sting continued, "I'm sorry for the way we treated you, but we're starting everything over from scratch."

Yukino turned around and looked at Sting. Lucy could've sworn she saw something sparkle in her eyes as his words. The corners of Lucy's mouth twitched in a small smile, but she didn't say anything.

"The way we were, was wrong, but the old Sabertooth is history now. From here on out, we'll be the kind of guild that treats our members like family."

Yukino looked away as her voice broke, "Well, then I wish you the best of luck all of that."

"I know the wounds are still fresh, but I'd love it if you were apart of it again…"

Lucy smiled for real now, but still didn't say anything. There was definitely something between them. Maybe she'll tease Yukino later, but now was _definitely_ not the time.

Yukino still looked down and seemed to be taking it in. It looked like she might say yes, but it was questionable. Before she could open her mouth though, an irritated voice made itself known:  
"Are you kidding me?! Don't be such an idiot!"

Yukino looked up and gasped. Apparently, they all failed to realize the listening crowd they got while Sting spoke. Mermaid Heel stood next to us with a flushed Kagura in front. She was in a stunning, purple dress and was obviously drunk.

"Kagura?"

"Did everybody just forget that her life is in my hands?! So since I'm the one making the rules here, I say she has to join Mermaid Heel!"

The whole Sabertooth guild shouted, "What?!" at once. Yukino jumped in confusion as a "Huh?!" escaped her lips. However, Sting would not go down without a fight as he approached Kagura.

"You're completely wasted!" He shouted.

"It doesn't matter! She belongs with us and you can't stop it!"

They began a staring contest while Yukino watched, but it only lasted a few seconds before Erza spoke up:

"Stop right there!" Kagura and Sting looked their way. "We won't stand by while you decide her fate!"

"We're manly!" Elfman yelled.

"That's right!" Lucy echoed, "And if she chooses to be in any guild, then it better be ours!"

"Yeah!"

"Personally, I think there are already too many girls in Fairy Tail to compete for Gray's attention!" Juvia puffed out her cheeks.

"And she's too much like me…" Lisanna casted her look down.

"Yeah!" Romeo shouted. "You're both the little sister types with the exact same hair!"

Yukino looked over toward Fairy Tail and blinked twice, "I never thought about joining Fairy Tail."

Others guilds joined in the argument that lasted for a while until Elfman got frustrated and punched Bacchus. When Bacchus stumbled back, he bumped into Toby. He lashed out at Hibiki because he thought he was the one to hit him and soon, an all out brawl started. Food flew everywhere as punches, pulls of hair, and tears of dresses were made.

"Come on!"

"Manly battle!"

"Just give up!"

"Not on your life!"

"Alright now, Makarov, I'll spin you!"  
"Don't you dare, Old Hag!"

Lucy could clearly see this was getting out of hand. Her dress at the bottom was ripped up to her knee on one side, her hair is falling out of her bun, and she was accidently pushed and wacked her arm on a table. She knew a bruise would form as she rubbed it to get the pain to go away.

" _Man! This is_ way _out of hand!_ "

Lucy also noted that it was quite stuffy when the fight started. She retreated outside, running as fast she could in the heels. It was dark, and there was still rubble everywhere, but the night was cool and light. Lucy sighed in relief as she shut the doors to block out the noise.

Well, it blocked out all noise, but one…

Lucy raised her eyebrows as she heard a quiet sobbing from somewhere nearby. She followed the noise around the corner onto a balcony and stopped when she saw pink hair.

Natsu was sitting on the railing in his tuxedo with tear stains in his cheeks. Lucy took two steps before stopping again; he looked miserable. It worried Lucy to no end because, number one: Natsu hardly ever cries (if he does, it's only a few tears, not sobs) and number two: whenever he felt terrible, he'd go to his friends. They always cheered him up, but he was out here alone in the dark, cool night crying.

"Natsu?"

Natsu jumped and turned around, but he only turned right back toward the view. He quickly wiped at his eyes before turning around and hopping off the railing.

"Hey Luce!" He exclaimed with a fake smile. "How are you?"

"Worried…"

"About?..."

" _Could this guy be any denser?_ " Lucy thought, but answered his question anyway, "You. You were just sobbing a second ago! What's wrong? I'm really worried!"

Natsu looked away at something interesting on the wall, "Oh…I'm fine. I was just-"

"You were _not_ fine! I've never seen you act like that! It's really worrying-"

Natsu interrupted her with an embrace. It had shocked her. They've only hugged a few times: When Éclair died and she was crying, when Master Hades summoned demons from rubble, a few hours ago after the Eclipse Gate was destroyed, and…that was all she could remember. For some reason, this hug felt different. It felt like they needed to hug more often. It felt like it needed to happen.

Natsu's body trembled violently and Lucy knew he was crying again even though she couldn't hear his sobs this time. She hugged his back and ran her fingers though his hair, trying to calm him down. It helped a little, but his body continued to tremble and shake for minutes that seemed to last for hours.

When Natsu finally did pull back, his eyes were bloodshot and tearstained. "Sorry," He muttered, "I just…needed that."

"You don't need to apologize," She replied and stroked his face, wiping his tears away. His eyes locked with hers as she opened her mouth to speak again, "Can you…," She paused. Maybe she shouldn't ask, but if she doesn't, she might not know. "…please tell me what's wrong?"

Natsu didn't reply. Instead, he took her hand off his face and caressed it in his hands like it was the most precious thing in the world. His thumb traced her light pink emblem as it clicked in Lucy's mind.

"…Oh…"

He raised her hand to his lips and brushed them against her emblem. His eyes were squeezed shut so he wouldn't cry again. She blushed at the contact, but didn't pull her hand away.

" _Yeah, Lucy! 'Oh' is right! And I say_ he's _the dense one!_ "

"Natsu…I-"

"It's my fault."

His words shocked her. She understood why he was upset, but it wasn't at all his fault! Why would he think such a thing?!

The sobs came back, "It's all my fault! If only I was faster, you wouldn't have died! I could smell the evil all over Rogue, but I didn't do anything! If only I had slugged him once or twice, then he would've paid attention to me and not you! If only-"

"Natsu, stop! It's not your fault-"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it's not! If that _was_ the case, it would've been everybody else's fault too for not doing something. It was my future-self's decision to jump in front of me."

"I still could've done something though!"

"You did! You were there! Future Rogue was going to shoot another bolt, but you stopped him. You protected me and kept your promise; you protected the future!"

A few moments of silence lingered between the two and the corners of Natsu's lips twitched a little. He glanced at the wall again and rubbed at his eye. "You're right, I did."

"And thank you for that, Natsu."

Natsu locked gazes with her and hugged her again tightly. "It's just…First, Igneel leaves me, then I was tricked with Lisanna, and then…I watch you die. For some reason, it hurt more than everything else. I don't know if it was just because I wasn't there to see Lisanna go to Edolas and I was asleep when Igneel left, but I was actually there and watched you die…I don't know, but it _really_ hurts…"

"I understand," Lucy spoke with a soft smile, "If our roles were reversed, I would feel the same way." Lucy suddenly noticed something: Wendy, Loke, Carla, Happy, and Pantherlily saw her die too. Lucy remembers looking at herself and thinking " _this is my future? I'm going to die in the future?_ " Everyone felt absolutely awful after watching Future Lucy die, but why is it that Natsu seems to be suffering five times more than everyone else. Igneel and Lisanna probably pushed him to the brink and witnessing her future-self's death most likely pushed him overboard, but if that was the case, wouldn't Wendy feel terrible too? Grandine left her and her former guild was fake. Loke would feel terrible too because of the Karin incident. Lucy could feel all her spirits' feelings and Loke was fine. Wendy, too, was in the castle right now laughing and with Shelia. So that wasn't the issue. Maybe this was something personal. Maybe he was feeling something…

Wait…feelings…

Lucy's eyes begin to widen and a blush heated on her face as she berried her face in the crook of his neck. Is it possible for someone like Natsu to like someone like her in that way? There was that one time seven years ago when Lucy had thought that Natsu liked her, but he actually just wanted to dig a hole. After that incident, she started to develop a small crush on him that grows ever so slowly, but it was strong enough to make Lucy realize his good looks. Scratch that, his _really_ good looks.

Lucy bit her lip and blinked a few times, trying to get off that argument she's had one too many times with herself out of her head. " _I got to cheer Natsu up first. After that, I can have another pointless argument, but cheer Natsu up first._ "

Lucy pushed him back a little bit and smiled. "Please stop crying," She wiped his leftover tears away. "It doesn't suit you. My future-self sacrificed herself so I could stay with you and Fairy Tail. I'm alive in the present and it's thanks to you."

Natsu managed to pull a smile. "Just don't die again, okay? I don't think I'd be able to handle it."

Lucy smiled wider. "I promise. I'll stay right here next to you."

Natsu's goofy, wide smile appeared, causing Lucy to laugh. "There's that smile I know! Oh! I just remembered something! There was a fight inside the castle a second ago. If you're lucky, it's still going on."

Natsu jumped about two feet in the air, causing Lucy to flinch (even though she saw it coming), "A fight?! I'm all fired up!"

With that, he disappeared around the corner leaving the celestial wizard by herself, laughing. Lucy sighed in relief. " _I'm glad he's feeling better!_ "

She walked to the railing where Natsu was sitting and looked at the view. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that he felt something toward her other than being friends. She frowned at her thoughts and looked down. Let's just say, Lucy _does_ like him more than a friend, if that's the result of the arguments with herself, he might not like her back. They'd most likely remain friends and Lucy would have to bottle up her feelings and put them away so she wouldn't ruin their relationship. If she just likes him as a friend, then, again, Natsu might or might not have feelings for her. If that's the case, then the good thing this is that he's not romantic, so he probably wouldn't do anything about it. They'd remain friends with no relationship problems at all.

But apart of Lucy _wants_ to like Natsu more than a friend. She just doesn't know if she does or not.

Running footsteps could be heard behind her and Lucy turned around. The pink haired dragon slayer flashed Lucy with goofy, trademark smile again as he stopped in front of her.

"Is the fight over? Did you miss it?"

"Nope! I just came back to get ya! I can't leave you alone out here!" He grabbed her hand and began pulling her around the corner toward the door.

Lucy ignored what felt like sparks when their hands made contact and said, "Wait, Natsu! I came out here so I wouldn't get trampled or hurt!"  
"Then stay close to me and I'll protect ya!"

Lucy felt a welcomed blush and a smile growing on her face as she let Natsu pull her into the room.

Maybe they would end up realizing what they felt toward each other and maybe they wouldn't. It didn't matter either way though. Natsu and Lucy barely left each other's side during the rest of the Grand Banquet along the next day…and the next day…and the next day. Maybe they would remain friends or maybe they'd get together.

It didn't matter though. They were alive and together…and nothing could tear them apart.

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 **Aww! This one is definitely going on my top ten favorite stories I've written! Yup! I like my version better than the original one, but what are you going to do?! Is Natsu OOC? Did I make him cry too much? Please tell me! Also, "Ravens and Fairies, Dragons and Princesses Ch. 7" is coming soon! Don't worry! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my NaLu version of episode 199, "The Grand Banquet"!**

 **-zEllie**


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